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MINDBENDER:
Raithe is part human and part Dahle. The Dahle are powerful metamorphs. Looming over Raithe is
the conviction he has to return to this alien people among whom he feels insignificant. But Raithe is kidnapped by Ember and
taken to the slave trader Marquesa. In a moment of danger he uses abilities he's only recently become aware of to free himself
and other captives, but is later re-taken by Marquesa. This time Marquesa is prepared and arranges Raithe’s captivity
in a way to prevent escape or retaliation. Feyeth persuades Ember to track down Raithe and assist in his rescue. Ember and
Feyeth go from one world to the next in search of clues to Raithe’s whereabouts. Eventually they find him on Praediam
where they meet up with Trik who is a telepath.
It's an interesting plot, and by the end of the book I felt I knew
the characters as flesh and blood people. Mindbender is written in first person, present tense, narrated by three of the main
characters. You see events from their perspective as the story unfolds. Sometimes they're mistaken in what they believe, particularly
where Feyeth and the Dahle are concerned. But the truth is satisfyingly revealed in the epilogue.
Raithe is half-Dahle, which means he's an empathic telepath. He can send and receive emotional
states and, with other telepaths, communicate psionically. When Ember, a childhood friend, spots him in a tavern on the holiday
world of Touraine, she has him kidnapped by her master, the slaver Marquesa, in the hope that Raithe will be able to free
her. He does so - kills Marquesa and releases all those captured for slavery. Except Marquesa isn't dead and he comes back,
takes Raithe and forces him to thieve for him. Ember, and Raithe's Dahle mate, Feyeth, must find Raithe and free him before
slavery drives him insane.
Fans of early CJ Cherryh, Catherine Asaro, and the Liaden books of Sharon Lee and Steve
Miller will enjoy Mindbender. Welch has crafted an engrossing and very readable tale set in an interesting universe. She makes
the reader feel for her characters - their hardships and successes - and the pace never lets up from start to finish.
Sci fi with an element of fantasy. I really enjoyed this book and I like the characters: Ember/Sapphire
who tries to be braver and more brazen than she really is; Raithe who despite his powerful abilities twice falls into the
hands of the same slave master, and poor Trik who's both brave and pathetic. Each character, except Feyeth, alternately tells
their story in their own words. Feyeth is important to the story but I wouldn't call her a main character.
It starts
off fairly light-hearted but darker elements creep in when it gets to Trik's narrative and Raithe's condition when Ember and
Feyeth finally find him. Most of the book involves the two women chasing Raithe through the systems.
Characters are
mentioned who don't actually take part in the story and I found this somewhat distracting, but I see from the author's storefront
that future books tell their stories.
The end did surprise me. Not the WOW slap in the face kind of surprise, more
the oh, I wouldn't have thought of that kind. The book is well written and professionally formatted and the story moves along
nicely, which makes it an easy read.
GALEN'S GATE:
Apart from a few lulls the plot moves fairly briskly from one event to another with a good balance
of drama, humor and tragedy. But a good tale, no matter the components, must be supported by compelling characters that draw
you into it and Welch does a competent job of this. David Galen's world is black and white; he will help those who are "good"
but kill those who are "evil" with a "shoot first and ask questions later" mentality. The Sirit pilot Tel, on the other hand,
is of the "innocent until proven guilty" variety until he comes face to face with uncompromising evil. I think my favorite
characters are the excitable hyperactive Petruans, a wonderfully exuberant people.
One thing I like about this book
is that the world Welch creates feels very real. Another is that the storyline is unpredictable. A real page turner and I
read the final page with a sense of satisfaction.
Galen came through the Gate, a mysterious spatial portal inside a settlement on an arid area
of the artificial world of Dacsus. The settlers don't know their world is a construction kept alive by a failing intelligence.
Survival in their harsh land is of paramount importance and they are also guardians of the Gate. Ala is a priestess who believes
the prophecy that says she will be instrumental in the destruction of a great evil. Ala and Galen become lovers and we follow
their relationship as they lose and re-find one another a number of times. Mix in another world’s efforts to get their
hands on what Galen “brought and what he knows”, the fulfillment of the prophecy, brutality and betrayal, and
Galen’s secret agenda and you have a fast-moving plot peopled by intriguing characters. Another thoroughly enjoyable
novel of the systems.
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